AppleShy is a Rarity
by rarixshy
Summary: But this is a Rarishy story. Fluttershy and Applejack live together but Fluttershy feels stressed and wants out of it. Rarity gets a little tangled in it. Just a little. Eventual Rarishy.


Applejack groaned and stirred as she felt the early morning sun grace her face and mane, her eyelids parting to greet the creeks of sunlight peeking from behind her window lifted a hoof up from under her heavy quilt and let it greet the higher up beams. She took a deep breath and turned over onto her side so her back was beat by the hot sun. Applejack buried her face into the hair of the pony laying next to her, not too eager to face the day ahead of her.

"Not now, babe," Fluttershy shimmied out of her grasp and out from under the quilt. Applejack creaked her eyes open wider and stared at yellow hooves. Fluttershy lifted a brush to her mane and smoothed it down a bit before she began preening herself.

Applejack breathed out a sigh and grabbed her hat from the bedside. She let it rest over her face as she tried to sit up. She sank back into the bed quickly.

Working on the farm had begun to take its toll on the Element of Honesty, and she no longer applebucked like she used to. She usually left the heavy lifting up to Applebloom nowadays, as her small apple seed had became a rather strong apple tree. Applejack preferred to help Granny Smith out with tidying around the house and she started taking more interest in the farm animals. That was how her and Fluttershy's relationship bloomed into the flower it was today, they shared their first kiss after Applejack had clumsily knocked over a milk bucket and caused Fluttershy to slip.

The fireworks they felt on that day had faded as their romantic interactions became more of a habit than a fun time. Everyday they would wake up together, share kisses and "I love you's" before parting for a few hours. At lunchtime, they would eat together in uncomfortable silence and then leave again. They would regroup at night, and fall asleep into each others arms. Fluttershy hardly showed the shyness or affection towards Applejack like she used to, and Applejack was trying so hard to get some emotion out of hr.

"See ya," Fluttershy monotonously said as she opened the window and flew out towards ponyville. Applejack sighed and got onto her feet, which protested as she let her weight onto them. She plopped her wilted hat on her head and slowly made her way down the stairs. Applejack was by herself until Fluttershy returned, as Applebloom had taken a personal day to chill with her friends, Big Mac and Granny Smith were out visiting family and making buisiness deals, and Fluttershy was wherever. Unmotivated and exhausted, Applejack poured herself some cereal before letting her face fall into it.

Fluttershy closed her eyes as she glided at a slow, steady pace. The wind under her wings supported her so that she would only have to flap whenever she felt as if she were about to crash, and the long hill she was flying over was cleared, so attention wasn't much needed. Besides, she could hear the commotion of the morning market in ponyville when she was closer, she didn't really need to see it.

Kindness's hooves rustled the grass as she let her legs hang loose. Her spirits were low, but today was spa day with Rarity, and she had to ask for some advice. As long as the advice lead her where she wanted to go, it would turn out to be an ok day.

The sounds of bits hitting wood and bartering signaled Fluttershy to open her eyes and land. She was always a little disappointed when she had to stop moving. Although she was scared of flying as fast as Rainbow Dash or as high as most pegasi, she enjoyed having small flights with her bird friends or just floating aimlessly. It cleared her head, a feeling that was rare nowadays, and it helped her feel like she was someplace else. Out of Equestria, this Earth, and this universe.

Her hooves turned up some dirt as she made contact with the ground and slowly came to a halt. Her wings shook any dust or moisture from the early morning dew and folded up. Fluttershy began her walk towards the spa, which was on the western side of Ponyville. She came an hour or two early so that she could gander at all of the stands and maybe grab a bite to eat. She avoided breakfast at the farm, she really could only stand awkward silences after she had fully woken up, and as such she was feeling pretty hungry. She scanned the stands and buildings around her, and began walking towards the middle of the market.

"Fressshhh apples! Picked just this morning! Crisp and tasty!" Two apple family members from out of town, probably standing in for Big Mac and Granny Smith, stood at a stand with a small variety of apples. Golden Delicious was munching on a golden apple and Apple Fritter was busy in front of a sizzling fryer.

"Only 4 bits a bushel!" Golden sprayed apple-scented saliva onto her sister, to which Apple Fritter splashed the fryer in the oil. Golden flinched at the burning liquid and gave her sis a disapproving stare.

Fluttershy looked at the ground and walked a little faster until she couldn't hear the promotion anymore. She had gotten tired and sick of apples. Not because everything was about apples, or maybe that was why, Fluttershy didn't know. She did know that she couldn't tell Applejack that, which was just one of the many things Fluttershy was not ever going to tell her.

Flutters took a deep breath and looked at the stands in front of her. Hay, tomatoes, and lettuce stands. I'll just try to...focus on something else...none of these are very filling and I don't have many bits on me. She turned the corner and glanced quickly at the stands around her. Pies. It's breakfast, not dessert. Cupcakes. I thought Sugarcube Corner had a monopoly on those! Vegan dogs. That's more of a lunchtime food. Fluttershy sighed and then remembered that Twilight was going on about some diners sandwiches a while ago. She decided that she would skip the market and just go for a more expensive, but safer, option.

As she sat down in the chair outside and waited to be served, she heard a certain unicorn call out to her. "Oh, Fluttershy! How great to see you, darling, I didn't know you enjoyed eating here, too!"  
Fluttershy smiled, which was rare as of late, and looked at her best friend. "Oh, Rarity, I wasn't expecting to see you about before our spa meeting,"

"Just stretching my muscles before my massage! I've found it feels better in the end if I've gotten a bit of exercise beforehoof. Mind if a grab a chair?" Fluttershy nodded and Rarity sat down across from her. "What's your favorite, darling? I don't care much for salads but they've got a cucumber and cauliflower mix that I really think deserves more praise than it gets,"  
"Oh, I've never actually eaten here before. What do you think I should get?" Fluttershy rested her hooves on the tabletop and relaxed her shoulders a bit. She hadn't realised how tensed up her body had gotten. She took a deep breath as Rarity glanced over the menu posted nearby.

"Goodness, dear, it sounds like the spa day will really help you out. You look like Twilight did when she was sent to the Crystal Empire. Are you anticipating something?" Rarity switched between scanning the menu and scanning the pegasus. Fluttershy frowned a bit and looked down.

"Well, it's more like dreading something, but all the time," She confessed. Rarity raised an eyebrow and leaned towards Flutters a bit at this. She nodded to urge her on. "Y-you know how me and Applejack are rooming now, right?"

"Yes, that was quite the hot topic between us all for a bit. Is she too dirty? Getting mud everywhere? Hugs you too strongly?"

"Rarity, you know she's been getting older. Farm work is tough, and even though she's an earth pony she does have a limit. She's actually been helping with animal work,"

"Wasn't that part of the paying off rent thing? Like, you know, your job?" The two had moved in under the terms that Fluttershy would pay off her rent in the form of labor. Since Fluttershy had to move all of her animals to the farm after her cottage started falling apart, it wasn't much different from her usual business.

She eventually stopped working when she and AJ had grown feelings for each other. At least Fluttershy thinks she like-liked her. Maybe she only liked her? What if she used to like-like her but now she didn't? What if Applejack was just using her? Fluttershy had these questions flying around in her head most of the time, like flies to a corpse, and that corpse was her relationship with AJ.

"It...it used to be. We sorta kinda...um," Fluttershy blushed and Rarity's face lit up. Suddenly this ordeal was a lot more interesting.

"Sorta kinda what, darling?" Rarity pushed in both curiosity and caring. She batted her eyelashes and Fluttershy blushed harder.

"We...became like," Fluttershy dropped to a whisper, "a little more than friends, but I don't know if I like it. I'm just so confused, I don't know what to do! I feel like everything's hard now!" Her voice raised ever so slightly as she spoke. Rarity dropped her smirk and nodded.

"It does sound difficult to handle. Especially to someone of your character. Would it be alright to ask how this came about?"

Fluttershy buried her face into her mane, "Maybe later. I just want to eat and relax for now. I think it'd be best to forget about it for now,"

"That's absolutely alright, dear. I don't want to pressure you into saying anything you aren't comfortable with. I think a hot soup would be a great choice for lunch today. I haven't tried this mushroom one yet. Do you know what mushroom this is?"

Fluttershy smiled softly and starting going on about how Angel wanted so desperately to try the mushroom and she had to go through the Everfree looking for it, getting lost in positive thoughts. Rarity ordered the soup for her and her friend and listened to Fluttershy go on passionately for the first time in ages.


End file.
